James Hadley is ready to depart our shores for a well-deserved break after four successful years at the helm of BATS Theatre in Wellington.

"I've enjoyed following the BATS policy of accessibility; encouraging an atmosphere of inclusiveness and avoiding any sense of a 'clique'. It's the Programme Manager's job to pass on information and share resources, and I've enjoyed encouraging emerging practitioners with astounding talents. In particular, I've put more focus on the in-house marketing guidance BATS is able to pass on to shows, and on the debrief meetings after seasons where we talk about where shows might move on to next."

James leaves next month to travel and research UK theatre companies and community-building theatre events before returning to NZ to set up a new independent theatre collective.

"I'm currently trying to gather UK contacts from others in the NZ industry, so if anyone's reading this and has some recommendations, please get in touch!"James Hadley is ready to depart our shores for a well-deserved break after four successful years at the helm of BATS Theatre in Wellington.

"I've enjoyed following the BATS policy of accessibility; encouraging an atmosphere of inclusiveness and avoiding any sense of a 'clique'. It's the Programme Manager's job to pass on information and share resources, and I've enjoyed encouraging emerging practitioners with astounding talents. In particular, I've put more focus on the in-house marketing guidance BATS is able to pass on to shows, and on the debrief meetings after seasons where we talk about where shows might move on to next."

James leaves next month to travel and research UK theatre companies and community-building theatre events before returning to NZ to set up a new independent theatre collective.

"I'm currently trying to gather UK contacts from others in the NZ industry, so if anyone's reading this and has some recommendations, please get in touch!"During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?
Midnight till 2am (not quite the day, but - )

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?
A friend texted me back 'soft, expressive, playful and unafraid 2 deliver a few sharp blows. A director whose work is like little love letters 2 his audiences.'

What aspect of your role gives you the biggest thrill?
Helping facilitate a shared vision and harmonious bond among the collaborators on a project, and seeing audiences open up and respond to generosity from performers.

How does your environment affect your work?
Recently I've been making site specific works which feed off and merge with their environments, so 'a lot'.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?
I love the conceptual stage of a project, so definitely the 'big picture'.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?
Know your audience - put their experience centre stage within the creative (and business) process.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?
I wrote, co-produced and co-directed a show called 'Lovers of Central Park' last year. With 4 co-directors, and 24 actors, we made a promenade theatre show set in Wellington's Central Park. As the audience were led through the park, their path intersected with scenes from nine romantic subplots - set in different periods 1848 - 2011. It was thrilling to populate a park with 24 characters from different time periods in its history and place the audience inside the play. If we'd sat down and thought about it rationally it never would have happened - it was totally un-viable commercially, but everyone just believed in it and it felt like quite a blessed project.

What does a programme manager do?
Apply BATS Theatre's strategic objectives - like supporting and developing emerging practitioners and new New Zealand performance works - to programming the venue (and countless related activities). The Programme Manager at BATS works in tandem with the Business Manager (currently Clare Kerrison), and together they manage all aspects of running the theatre.

During your time at BATS it had its highest audience attendance and box office income. What did you do to help this growth?
Of course, the economic climate was a huge factor. And BATS has been at a stage of development where its brand is more widely recognised than in the past. Plus there's been an abundance of talented independent theatre practitioners seeking to stage their work at BATS in recent years. I guess I've had a good strike rate with the works I've selected for the programme, and my focus on programming the venue to capacity and for diversity have continued to grow BATS' widely varied audience base.

What did you do to help theatre practitioners?
The founding philosophy of BATS places practitioners as the key stakeholders/customers, and that works for me. I've enjoyed following the BATS policy of accessibility; encouraging an atmosphere of inclusiveness and avoiding any sense of a 'clique'. It's the Programme Manager's job to pass on information and share resources, and I've enjoyed encouraging emerging practitioners with astounding talents. In particular, I've put more focus on the in-house marketing guidance BATS is able to pass on to shows, and on the debrief meetings after seasons where we talk about where shows might move on to next.

What are you most proud of during your time at BATS?
The fact that the programme's featured work by most of the emerging practitioners that I believe will be the key creative innovators of NZ performance in the near future.

Why are you leaving?
Because it's time, and there's no time like the present to fulfil a longterm ambition and travel round Italy.

You are going to the UK to research community building theatre events. Can you tell us more about your plans?
I've identified that participatory theatre events which generate more of a connection between audience members is where it's at for me, and there's a lot more of that sort of work happening in the UK than here, so I'm hoping to see as much of it as I can to further develop my ideas. If I manage to collaborate with some UK practitioners working in these areas then so much the better. I'm currently trying to gather UK contacts from others in the NZ industry, so if anyone's reading this and has some recommendations, please get in touch!

You want to set up an independent theatre collective when you get back to Wellington. When will you be back and can you tell us more about this project?
There's no set time line (and hence no Creative NZ funding proposal!). I'm really excited about what we're on the verge of in the performing arts in NZ - a time of further joining up the dots to create improved national infrastructure, more shared resources, and more know-how for taking works offshore. So I hope to do a bit of that on a microcosmic scale, when I return to Wellington, developing some ongoing projects as creative producer for a free-form collective which will hopefully generate more work for free-lance practitioners when they're 'in between' other jobs - I could tell you more of the details, but then someone else might do it before I get back!

Who or what has inspired you recently?
The practitioners I collaborated with recently on a site-specific promenade show called 'Familiar Strangers'. We put the performers in some really tough performance environments - mostly on and around Courtenay Place, so they were competing with all sorts of distractions, and all of them totally rose to the challenge of connecting with their audiences.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?
My first Masters was in Art History - so it would have to be as an exhibition curator.

What place is always with you, wherever you go?
Bourne End - the village in Buckinghamshire where I spent my childhood.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?
As a passenger in a car being driven through spectacular scenery, because I like something to look at too!

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?
A prop a bit like a wing, which extends a performer's gestures a bit like Loie Fuller's costumes used to.

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?
'Pause to take a breath - look with clarity at the present moment - and accept whatever you find with compassion.'

What's great about today?
That it has infinite potential.

What's your big idea for 2008?
Merging all of the above into action!

18/03/08